


Endgame

by Cielestine_de_Winter



Series: Q Does What He Wants... [4]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: BAMF Q, F/M, James has not idea what he wants, M/M, Q Is still not a Damsel, Tanner and Eve Ship QOO, scene remix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-05-03 03:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5274812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cielestine_de_Winter/pseuds/Cielestine_de_Winter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the last drabble in this series.  Many, many spoilers for the end of SPECTRE.  This is the last prequel to Relentless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Endgame

James Bond stood in the dark room waiting. Madeleine sniffed in the cold. She was seated at one of the dusty desks across the room from him. He wondered idly if his distrust of her was obvious. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t forget the look in her eyes when the shot that killed her father echoed through Oberhauser’s compound. He would continue to pursue her, though. Oberhauser had predicted that she was perhaps the only person who could understand him. Maybe he was right. Oberhauser was very intelligent. Stark raving mad, but still intelligent. 

James tensed as the door opened the relaxed slightly when M stepped through and met his gaze for a moment. “It’s safe,” M said walking in the door and putting a bag on the desk next to Madeleine’s. M looked at her questioningly as Tanner, Moneypenny, and Q walked through the door. Q made his way to the corner desk, the furthest from everyone else, and set up his laptop.

“This is Dr. Swann,” James said quietly as he walked over to Q and placed a tall paper cup next to him. 

Q blinked at him surprised. He wrapped one hand around the cup and breathed in the bergamot scented beverage. He took a sip of the perfectly prepared tea then put it down and started typing.

Moneypenny and Tanner exchanged knowing looks as M and James got to it. “The data Q pulled from Oberhauser’s network exposes his dealings throughout the globe. We have the proof we need to discredit C. Bond and I will apprehend C. Tanner, Moneypenny, follow us in case there is trouble. Q, stay here and make sure Nine Eyes is dismantled before it’s able to go live. Dr. Swann…”

“I’ll stay here,” Madeleine interrupted him. A fission of unease ran through James. He turned to Q, but Q was already lost in his hacking. 

“Fine,” James said stopping his doubts. Q would be fine. James walked over to Madeleine as M, Tanner, and Moneypenny turned to the door. “Be safe,” James whispered as his kissed her ear.

“Finish this, James,” Madeleine breathed, kissing him on the lips. “And come back to me.”

James gave a faint smile before turning to Q. Q’s too thin face was illuminated by the faint blue light of his laptop. James’s gaze dropped to Q’s obscenely soft looking lips. For a second, James could see himself going over and kissing those lips. Slightly surprised at himself, James quickly followed after M.

 

It would have to be Vauxhall, James sighed to himself. Whoever had tried to abduct him had a taste for drama that was a bit nauseating. James cautiously made his way through the condemned building, looking around corners, unimpressed with the cheap theatrics. He paused, looking at the photos of the people who died getting him to where he was. Le Chiffre, Vesper, Mr. White, Silva, M- all ghosts reaching out to pull James off balance. James forced his attention away from the last photo of M and continued through the dark, crumbling halls of the one place where James had once felt at home. 

A flash of light and James caught sight of the man he had hoped that he killed. James shot at Oberhauser willing one of his bullets to penetrate the bulletproof shield between them so he could end the mad man once and for all. James stopped firing when Oberhauser turned to him.

Oberhauser had a terrible oozing wound running from the forehead, through his left eye to his chin. The damaged eye had turned filmy, red tears collected in the weeping scar. “Ah, James. I am glad you could join me,” Oberhauser smiled.

“I hope that does hurt too badly,” James said stepping close to the glass.

“I’ll heal,” Oberhauser shrugged. “You have taken away nothing that I can’t live without. I wonder if you can say the same thing to me.” Oberhauser breathed on the glass. “I continue to take things away from your pathetic life.” Oberhauser drew a heart in the condensation on the glass.

James’s heart started pounding. If Oberhauser had Madeleine, then… “Where’s Q?” he demanded as his heart pounded against his chest.

Oberhauser frowned at James’s unexpected question. “The Quartermaster? My men are keeping him company. I didn’t know he was so talented. He not only hacked into my network, but also undid 6 months of work done on Nine Eyes by top security experts in less than 20 minutes. I can make use of that kind of genius. When he’s trained, of course.” Oberhauser tilted his head. “But I would have thought you would be more interested in the fate of the lovely Madeleine.”

James clenched his teeth. “What have you done with her?”

Oberhauser smiled again. “She’s here. She had no problems trading your Quartermaster for faint promises of freedom. I’ll grant her freedom, but I think my definition of freedom is a little different than hers.” Oberhauser walked over a detonation device. “But I am a sporting man.” Oberhauser primed the device. “Three minutes. You can follow me or you can try to find and rescue dear Madeleine. What will you do James?”

“You’re bluffing.”

“Am I?” Oberhauser slammed his palm on the detonator and walked out as the time quickly counted down.

James desperately wanted to go after Q, but practicality and his promise to Mr. White stopped him. He tore out of the room. “Madeleine!” he shouted, running though the corridors. He ran through the firing range, then through what was left of Q branch. “Madeleine!”

James didn’t think; he just ran- looking and listening for anything that would indicate where she was. “Madeleine!” James ran through accounting before changing direction and running up the stairs to the heart of the building. Oberhauser wanted drama. Of course he would put Madeleine in M’s office. 

When James arrived, he found the office was nothing but an open wound to the world. Oberhauser’s helicopter hovered several meters away, letting James know that he was correct. Madeleine was somewhere near. James’s stopped and glared at the helicopter for a moment. In that helicopter was Q. James had never hated anyone as he did Oberhauser in that moment.

Over the noise of the helicopter James heard a muffled banging. James quickly turned and followed the sound to what was left of M’s panic room. The door was wedged closed and James had ease the metal door open. Bound to a chair in the middle of the room sat Madeleine. James forced him not to think of how she had betrayed him as he cut through her bonds. He grabbed her hand. “Hurry!” he said rushing to the giant hole in the atrium. He grabbed her tightly and jumped.

James and Madeleine were caught by the safety next and rolled off to the ground. Without checking to see if she was okay, James took hold of her hand again and ran to the boat that was docked underneath the crumbling building. James pulled Madeleine along with him as he leapt on to the boat. He dropped her hand as he started the motor and took off. The explosion deafened them as large chucks of the building started falling around them. James navigated in the dim light, focused only on getting out, getting free so he could go after Q.

The boat broke through the mouth of the tunnel just as it collapsed. James was already scanning the sky looking for Oberhauser’s helicopter. He spotted it, flying about 20 meters away from them. 

Suddenly, the helicopter jerked in one direction then another. One of the doors opened and someone fell out. James glanced at the man, quickly determining him not to be Q and continued following the erratically flying helicopter. James’s breath caught when the helicopter dove toward the large concrete bridge. The helicopter crashed into the side of the bridge, then continued to scrape across it, cutting off the heavy traffic. 

James stopped the boat at the foot of the bridge and ran. James didn’t even stop to acknowledge Oberhauser who was crawling away from the flaming wreckage. 

“Q!” James shouted, as he ripped open the door. “Q!” The heat was a wall as James pushed through the flames to get inside.

There was a faint moan. James caught sight of Q, crumpled and bleeding in the pilot’s seat. James grabbed him a carefully as he could and started dragging him out of the wreckage. Q opened his eyes and shouted in pain as he hit his obviously broke arm against the door.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” James said desperately. “You’re going to be okay.”

Q coughed. “I hate flying,” he gasped.

“You may like it more if you wouldn’t try to crash the vehicle you are flying in,” James chastised, holding Q against him as they slowly walked away from the burning crash. “Lean on me.”

“Given my options,” Q coughed again. “I thought I may have a better time of it if I crashed the helicopter. I’m not especially good at being trained.”

“Too much like your cats?” James teased as they walked past Mallory, who was pointing a gun at Oberhauser. Oberhauser glared murderously at them. James ignored him.

Q gave a wheezing laugh. “Something like that. Besides, unless you somehow had secreted a sniper rifle on your person, I was pretty sure I was on my own. It’s not like your standard issued handgun would could do anything from that distance.”

“You would never be on your own. I will always come for you,” James vowed. Madeleine ran up from the river and stopped several meters away. James and Q slowed.

“You can leave me here, OO7,” Q said gently. “Go to her. I’ll be fine.”

James glanced at him. “She betrayed us.”

“She betrayed me. Someone she barely knows,” Q argued. “She was frightened. This isn’t her life. Take her someplace far away from here where she’ll be safe.”

James stopped and moved so that he could see Q’s face. “Why?”

Q’s smile was pained. “Because that’s what you do. You save the beautiful damsel and then ride off into the sunset.”

“What if I want to ride off into the sunset with you?”

Q gave a short amused laugh. “I am hardly a damsel.”

“No,” James smiled. “You certainly are not that.”

“James,” Madeleine called, taking a step closer.

Q pushed James away with his good arm. “Good bye, Commander Bond.” With that he turned and walked to where Tanner and Eve were standing.

James watched him leave.

“James,” Madeleine called again.

James started walking to her.

“You came for me,” she said quietly, as though she was trying to understand. “Why? After what I had done…”

“I gave your father my word,” James said with a bitter smile. “I said I would protect you and I meant it.”

Madeleine stepped closer and kissed him. Her kiss was full of passion and need.

It left him cold.

“Come, let’s get away from here,” he said taking her hand and leading her back to the water.


End file.
